This is the first time that a state government has notified the bills as acts following a court order, rather than governor or President's assent.
Published Apr 12, 2025 | 1:19 PM ⚊ Updated Apr 12, 2025 | 1:24 PM
Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin.
Synopsis: In a historic move, the Tamil Nadu government notified 10 Acts without the Governor’s assent, following a Supreme Court ruling that Governors cannot delay bills indefinitely and must act on the elected government’s advice. Most Acts shift Vice-Chancellor appointment powers from the Governor to the State. This marks the first time laws took effect solely through a court order.
The Tamil Nadu government has notified the 10 Acts in the Government Gazette, bringing them into force, following the Supreme Court’s upload of its 415-page verdict in the case against the Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi, who upheld the 10 bills passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly.
This is the first time that a state government has notified the bills as acts following a court order, rather than governor or President’s assent.
According to a Livelaw report, the notification read, “The Hon’ble Supreme Court in its Order dated 08.04.2025 in W.P.(C) No.1239/2023 has ordered that all the action of the Hon’ble President after date of reserving the above said Bill is non-est in law and shall be deemed to have been assented to by the Hon’ble Governor on the date on which the said Bill was presented to him for assent.”
Most of the Acts pertain to the appointment of Vice-Chancellors in State-run universities, transferring the authority from the Governor-Chancellor to the State government.
In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court on 8 April, ruled that state Governors do not possess any authority to sit indefinitely on bills passed by Legislative Assemblies without making a decision.
The court emphasised that Governors must act solely based on the advice of the Council of Ministers headed by the elected state government, and cannot act at their own discretion.
It held that it was illegal for the Governor to send a bill, which had been re-passed by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly for the second time, directly to the President of India without taking appropriate action himself.
It stressed that the Governor’s role is not to interfere but to act in accordance with the advice of the elected administration, upholding the true spirit of the Constitution.
Following this, DMK MP P Wilson noted that history has been made. In a post on X, he wrote: “Pursuant to the order of the Hon. SC the Tamil Nadu Government has notified the 10 Acts on the Government Gazette and they come into force! History is made as these are the first Acts of any legislature in India to have taken effect without the signature of the Governor / President but on the strength of the judgement of the Supreme Court! Our universities will now be cleansed and taken to a new level under the chancellorship of the Governo̶r̶ment!”
Pursuant to the order of the Hon. SC the Tamil Nadu Government has notified the 10 Acts on the Government Gazette and they come into force!
History is made as these are the first Acts of any legislature in India to have taken effect without the signature of the Governor /… https://t.co/X86hh7bRT9 pic.twitter.com/nSGy3qjcvC
— P. Wilson (@PWilsonDMK) April 12, 2025
(Edited by Sumavarsha, with inputs from Subash Chandra Bose)
